Jo wrote:

"Wireless is a pain. It's slow, expensive, will not work in some areas,
and has security issues."
Slow? It runs at or faster than the cable modem speed.

Yep, and that's slow also. The max transfer rate on a cable modem is 10
Meg with an effective rate of about 2 Meg. Normal wireless (not g) runs
about the same. A $10 RJ-45 NIC runs 100 Meg. Or in the Gig range if you
run cat-6 and buy expensive cat-6 NICs. Eventually you'll get tired of
that car that only runs 2 MPH and wish you had bought the cheaper car that
runs 100 MPH. That big movie file that you want to transfer to the other
computer and takes 5 minutes to transfer will take over four hours via
wireless. That's s l o w .

Even then, most users will not detect the difference between wired and
wireless.

You can't tell the difference between 5 minutes and four hours???

expensive? You can get a 4-port Linsys WAP for next to nothing.
Wireless NIC is cheap as well.

Wireless cards are two to three times the cost of a standard network
card... And the required access point is four to five times as much. You
can lessen the cost by buying a combination access/firewall/router, but
not a lot. You can go up to 802.11g and get around 50 Meg, but you best
float a loan before you go check them out.

will not work in some areas??? He's talking ACROSS THE HALL.

True, but he might want to put another computer somewhere wireless won't
penetrate. Like behind a concrete wall.

security issues? Enable WEP and MAC filtering and only those who REALLY
want in will get in. If they want in that bad, they will get in no
matter what.

The point was that running wires is something most everyone can do and
hard wired connectivity is totally secure. Not even the high tech
equipment of goverment agencies can penetrate a hard wired lan when it's
not connected to the Internet. They can, however, access any file on any
computer in your house from a van across the street if you're running
wireless. And they're not the only ones that can do it.

128 bit WEP is like a cheap padlock. It only keeps out the honest and
those unable to obtain the tools to get past it.

LittleJohn
Madison, AL